These last couples of months have been really full on in my life and been very challenging in so many ways with just a lot of things happening in such a short space of time…All of life’s journey I presume as the saying goes ‘what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger’ so I think I should be King Kong by now 🙂

So lets do a rundown of the events that took place …. We had a major bout of gastro and with a family of five in our house a tummy bug really creates a world of havoc, in this case caring is not sharing!! On top of that, we had a case of head lice, moving house, a trip to the hospital and a very sudden death in the family which took a toll on me emotionally and affected me physically as my body just went into shut down mode.

But in a house with three children I ask how do I allow myself the time to breathe??? We as mothers always have to be the strong ones, the ones that keep going when there is a swirling tornado around us trying to swoop us away, but how do we do that without us breaking into a million pieces??

I found that to be the million dollar question!!…as from one end I was trying to maintain my composure and keep going and from the other I don’t want my children to think it’s ok to hold back. I want my kids to know that sometimes we need to cry, sometimes we need to vent, and sometimes we need to be supported by the ones closest to us and so I did. I let my children be there for me and hold my hand and know that I am their mother but I am also a woman, a sister, a daughter, a feeling, emotional human being and so when my littlest girl Talia saw me cry one day and she came to me and wiped away a tear from my face that was a memory that I hold as one of the sweetest raw moments of motherhood that I will cherish for all time.

So for all the mums that have their tough days and we all have them I wanted to offer a bit of insight of what helped me get through…

* Always remember to have a grateful heart… I wake up every morning and remind myself to see the beauty in each and every day and be thankful for my loved ones around me and that awakened my appreciation for everything that was right and good in the world.

* Don’t go beyond your means… As a Doula I support women and teach them to listen to their bodies as part of my job but I found that I wasn’t taking my own advice in supporting myself. So the biggest most challenging part for me was actually referring my enquiries to someone else. I needed to listen to my body and just take the time for me. I found that to be one of the hardest things I did but with great trepidation I did this for my own self learning and healing.

* Reach out… Reaching out to friends to say I needed them just for a friendly voice, a supportive heart and just the reassurance that you have someone that understands and is there for you and so I did and I am so thankful and blessed to have the friends that listened and cared.

So in this mainstream technological world we live in where every post on Facebook or Instagram is portrayed of a perfect existence of us as women and mothers I want to make a stand and say ITS OK TO BE VULNERABLE!

So if you walk away with anything from this post I hope that it is to be kind to yourself, to listen to your heart, nurture your soul and be vulnerable because when you are than you allow yourself to be the best kind of mother you can to your children. A mother whom shows them what a strong woman looks like.

My name is Moran and I am a mother to three healthy, smart and beautiful girls. My journey into the world of birthing began when I had my first child Isabella. Isabella’s birth was one filled with fear, intervention and post partum anxiety, the way all births are not meant to be.